Prevalence of subclinical Vitamin K deficiency in early infancy in exclusively breast-fed term infants

• Published in: Journal of Marine Medical Society Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 55 - 57
• Main Authors: Jain, Gitanjali, Adhikari, K, Vasnik, Gautam, Singh, Daljit, Somasundaram, Venkatesan, Gupta, Rakesh, Dudeja, Puja, Shaw, Subhash
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Publications 01.06.2023; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Breast feeding; Diseases; Health aspects; Infants (Newborn); Pediatric research; proteins induced by vitamin k absence or antagonist-ii; Risk factors; Statistics; subclinical vitamin k deficiency; Vitamin K deficiency; vitamin k deficiency bleeding; India; Proteins induced by Vitamin K absence or antagonist-II; subclinical Vitamin K deficiency; Vitamin K deficiency bleeding
• ISSN: 0975-3605; 2589-1235
• DOI: 10.4103/jmms.jmms_75_22

Background: Late Vitamin K deficiency bleeding, is a disease of exclusively breast-fed infants attributable to poor content of Vitamin K in breast milk. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of subclinical Vitamin K deficiency, at 3 months of age in exclusively breast-fed term infants who were administered routine Vitamin K 1 mg intramuscular at birth. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted between June 2018 and June 2020 in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Western India. Consecutive inborn infants, having received Injection Vitamin K at birth and on exclusive breast feeds attending immunization at 3 months of age were included. Half milliliter of venous blood was withdrawn for the estimation of Proteins Induced by Vitamin K Absence or Antagonist-II (PIVKA-II). Subclinical Vitamin K deficiency was defined as PIVKA-II level of more than 2 ng/mL. Results: The mean age of infants was 3.2 ± 0.2 months and the PIVKA II levels ranged from 0.19 to 10.07 ng/ml. Subclinical Vitamin K deficiency was present in 62 (32.63%) out of 190 infants. Conclusion: Significantly raised PIVKA II levels (>2 ng/mL) were detectable in 32.6% of infants after 3 months of age who had received 1 mg of Vitamin K at birth.